The Fate of Fragrance Chemicals from Wastewater Treatment Plants — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

Instructions

Student presentations must have a faculty sponsor.

Abstracts must include a title and a description of the research, scholarship, or creative work. The description should be 150-225 words in length and constructed in a format or style appropriate for the presenter’s discipline.

The following points should be addressed within the selected format or style for the abstract:

A clear statement of the problem or question you pursued, or the scholarly goal or creative theme achieved in your work.
A brief comment about the significance or uniqueness of the work.
A clear description of the methods used to achieve the purpose or goals for the work.
A statement of the conclusions, results, outcomes, or recommendations, or if the work is still in progress, the results you expect to report at the event.

Presenter photographs should be head and shoulder shots comparable to passport photos.

Additional Information

More information is available at carthage.edu/celebration-scholars/. The following are members of the Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Committee who are eager to listen to ideas and answer questions:

Jun Wang
Kim Instenes
John Kirk
Nora Nickels
Andrew Pustina
James Ripley

The Fate of Fragrance Chemicals from Wastewater Treatment Plants

Name: Helaina Rosenmayer
Major: Biology
Hometown: Plainfield, IL
Faculty Sponsor: Sarah Rubinfeld
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: SURE
Funding: SURE

Name: Macy Anderson
Major: Biology
Hometown: Brainerd, MN
Faculty Sponsor: Sarah Rubinfeld
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: SURE
Funding: SURE

Abstract

Synthetic musk chemicals are commonly used as fragrance additives in shampoos, detergents and other personal care products. Since many of these products get washed down the drain, musks have also been found in the aquatic environment. Studies have shown that musks bioaccumulate and biomagnify in aquatic food webs and have suggested that they can have negative impacts on ecological and human health, therefore it is important to understand their environmental fate. One major source of synthetic musk chemicals to the environment is wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) discharge. In order to study the abundance of these chemicals in southeast Wisconsin, samples of sludge and water effluent were taken from two local WWTPs. The four chemicals of interest in this study were galaxolide (HHCB), tonalide (AHTN), musk ketone (MK) and musk xylene (MX). Samples were collected, extracted, cleaned and prepared for gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC/MS) analysis based on EPA methods. HHCB was found in the highest concentrations both in sludge and effluent. It was followed by the other polycyclic musk, AHTN with the nitromusks (MX and MK) found in much lower concentrations. The information gained from this study could be used to assess risk and develop management plans for synthetic musk chemicals.

Poster file